1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bicycle carrier for a vehicle, which is housed in the rear bumper of the vehicle to be concealed and when necessary is drawn out from the rear bumper to carry a bicycle.
2. Description of Related Art
Today, bicycles are being used as means of leisure as well as transportation means. When the bicycle is used as a means of leisure, a biker carries the bicycle to a place, such as a river having a bicycle path which is well maintained or a mountain having a mountain bicycle course, prior to riding on the bicycle.
In order to carry the bicycle with the vehicle, bicycle carriers for vehicles have been developed. Bicycle carriers typically include a roof bicycle carrier which is installed to the roof rack of the vehicle, and a rear bicycle carrier which is installed to the rear of the vehicle. The rear bicycle carrier is usually installed to the trunk or tail gate of the vehicle. Recently, a bicycle carrier which is installed to the drawbar hook of the vehicle has been proposed.
However, conventional bicycle carriers for vehicles require additional installation to the vehicles and have the following problems.
The roof bicycle carrier is problematic in that the bicycle must be lifted up to the roof of the vehicle to be loaded onto the carrier, thus inconveniencing a user. When the vehicle loaded with the bicycle is driven, the height of the vehicle increases, and the center of gravity of the vehicle becomes elevated, thus hindering the safe driving of the vehicle.
Meanwhile, the rear bicycle carrier overcomes the problems occurring in the roof bicycle carrier, because the bicycle is loaded onto the rear of the vehicle. However, the rear bicycle carrier is problematic in that it protrudes rearwards from the vehicle even when the vehicle is driven without loading the bicycle, so that the substantial length of the vehicle increases, thus inconveniencing a driver. Further, in order to overcome such an inconvenience when the vehicle is driven during normal times, the bicycle carrier may be detached from the vehicle and stored in the trunk or the like when it is not necessary to load the bicycle onto the vehicle. However, this is also problematic in that the bicycle carrier must be repeatedly attached to and detached from the vehicle, thus inconveniencing a user.
Further, the rear bicycle carrier is problematic in that, when the bicycle is loaded onto the carrier, the license plate of a vehicle is hidden, so that it may violate traffic regulations. The rear bicycle carrier and the bicycle loaded onto the carrier cover the taillight of the vehicle, so that information displayed by the taillight may not be cleanly transmitted to a trailing vehicle, thus causing a traffic accident. Further, in the case of loading the bicycle, it is impossible to open the trunk or tail gate of the vehicle.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.